Transcribed from the video:
The game opens with an iconic scene that’s familiar to anyone who’s seen the movies, and immediately sets the tone: you love Indy, we love Indy. Let’s go on an adventure. And if you’ve never seen the movies, you get to experience one of the great opening scenes in film history—in first person. Creating this game as a first person adventure was a bold choice, but was it a good one?
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle wants to fit right alongside the films, but the movies have been pretty uneven over the years. So is it more Last Crusade, or more Crystal Skull?
The Setup
In a strange twist of irony, this game has to fit inside a genre that has been riffing off the Indy movies for decades. It’s the latest treasure hunt featuring everyone’s favorite professor-turned-punching-bag, Indiana Jones. The game takes place between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, so you get peak Indy—grizzled, sarcastic, and somehow surviving a fourth concussion before breakfast.
The plot kicks off when Indy gets wrapped up in a globe-trotting mystery involving ancient artifacts, a shadowy cult, and—you guessed it—a big ol’ secret hidden beneath the Earth’s surface. It’s classic pulp action with just enough supernatural seasoning. Basically, it’s right in line with the way the movies blend archaeology and mysticism. But will it keep you on the edge of your seat?
Story and Voice Acting
Story-wise, it actually feels like a solid ‘lost film’ in the franchise. No aliens, thank you. Instead, you’ve got crumbling temples, bad guys with accents, and Indy quipping every time he almost dies—which is often. Cutscenes are cinematic and sometimes the action is intense, but the majority of the game is spent in immersive sim territory, while you try to find something using your wits and the stuff available on hand. In other words, the pacing is choppy, but that has less to do with the story and more to do with the gameplay in between.
Side characters range from ‘Hey, I remember you!’ to ‘You’re clearly gonna betray me,’ but the writing holds up. There’s even a moment on a blimp that legit looks like it was storyboarded in 1985, and I mean that in a good way.
Troy Baker does a great job stepping into the fedora. Is he Harrison Ford? No. But he walks the fine line between impersonation and making it his own. In short, he did fantastic and is one of the highlights of the game. But can the character models keep up?
Graphics and Presentation
Graphically? This game is beautiful. We’re talking detailed ruins, shifting sand dunes, lush jungles, and the occasional Nazi lair with highly questionable interior decorating. Lighting and shadows play a big role in the atmosphere, and there are a few set pieces that rival the best of Uncharted—yeah, I said it.
Facial animations can be a bit stiff at times, and I mentioned how great Troy Baker sounds as Indy, but visually he often looks like he’s thinking about something else—and the character model is just… a little off. Sometimes it looks just like Harrison Ford, but usually it looks more like a stunt double or something. But the environments more than make up for it. Plus, the UI is clean, immersive, and doesn’t hold your hands you like you’re auditioning for a tutorial video.
This is one of those rare games that actually makes me appreciate lighting in a game. Characters on screen almost always have clean, crisp highlights that make them pop off the screen.
There is a bit of goofiness, though, as we view the world through Indy’s eyes. Sometimes his hands and his feet look downright janky, and that’s because a game design decision that had us all scratching our heads before the game launched.
Gameplay
Alright, let’s get to the meat: the gameplay. This is where things get interesting. Machine Games decided to take one of the most recognizable characters in all of pop culture, and push him out of frame for a first-person adventure. I was really skeptical about this, because these games usually require a lot of climbing and clambering and you really need a 3rd person view for that. But the developers understood this, and the camera will pop in and out of 1st person as needed. As soon as you start climbing something the view changes, and it happens really seamlessly.
The 1st person view sets up some really cool moments, like when you see your shadow and you’re like “oh yeah, I’m Indy freakin’ Jones.” But for the most part, I don’t really understand what the first person view adds or improves. It doesn’t suck, and it’s more enjoyable than I thought it would be, but I still think character-driven adventure games like this are better off with in 3rd person. But hey, I appreciate the fact that this is different.
Most of the gameplay is a mix of stealth, melee, and puzzle-solving. And weirdly enough, there’s a lot of stealth. Whipping a gun out of a Nazi’s hand never gets old. Neither does bashing someone with a frying pan just like in that one movie, what was it… oh yeah, Raiders of the Lost Ark. You do a lot of head bashing and you do it with any blunt object you can find. And Indy isn’t pulling his punches here, there’s no quiet sleeper hold or silent stabbing—he straight up bludgeons people and doesn’t think twice.
Gunplay is serviceable—I mean don’t expect DOOM Eternal, or hey even the Wolfenstein games Machine Games is known for. Guns are punchy, but grounded. They’re loud and ammo is limited. You’re not here to be a super-soldier; you’re here to be a clever archeologist with very poor impulse control. I think I used my gun twice in the first 15 hours of play, and I know I’ve screwed up somewhere if I needed to use it, but I’m a stealth junkie so your mileage may vary.
Platforming is… fine. Some ledge grabs feel a bit off, like Indy forgot he’s not 70 yet. Traversal isn’t as much of a focal point as it is in Tomb Raider or Uncharted, but it’s there.
The puzzles are pretty great, though. Some are straight forward, some are more challenging, but I pretty much always felt smart when I solved them. There were a few, though, that were buzzkills, but they’re mostly enjoyable. Especially when you can use your whip in fun, context-sensitive ways.
What Makes It Special
So here’s the thing: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t just riding the coattails of a beloved IP. It’s clearly made by people who get what made those movies magic. It feels cinematic, the tone is adventurous but not self-serious, and it lets you live out that fantasy of being the guy who’s just barely keeping it together while saving the world.
There’s one part where I’m trying to solve a puzzle and a tomb is collapsing around me, and Indy’s muttering to himself about how he should’ve retired after the last tomb collapsed. It’s moments like that that give the game heart.
I mean, heroes in movies used to always be the strongest, or fastest, or smartest. In the early 80s, Indiana Jones was one of the first mainstream heroes that was just barely competent—he’s always getting in over his head and he’s no stranger to failure. This game gets that, and even though that’s pretty much a standard hero in storytelling these days, this game still makes Indy feel unique and worth following.
What Could Be Better
Okay, so it’s not all sunshine and relics. There are some pacing dips that just can’t be avoided with an open-ended immersive sim, especially in a monastery segment that dragged on a bit too long. The stealth system is a little too binary—either you’re a ghost or you’re being shot at in all directions. And it’s not always clear whether you’ll be seen or not, until it’s too late, because the game rewards you for stealth, but never commits fully to being a stealth game. Like this guy right here. I’m crouched down, but if he were to turn around I don’t know if he would see me or not. Some enemies are more perceptive than others, and I’ve been spotted from farther away, but I’ve also been able to sneak by with someone looking right in my direction.
Also, while the whip is a fun tool, there are moments where the game feels unsure how to use it. Sometimes it’s contextual, other times it’s just… not an option, even when it clearly should be. It’s like the whip union went on strike for a few levels.
And while the story is good, it plays it a bit safe. No huge emotional gut punches. Nothing that’ll leave you thinking about it a few days later. It’s a fun ride for sure, but it’s not on the same level as some other gems in the genre.
I had some gripes, but I enjoyed my time in the game anyway. So, would you?
Who’s This Game For?
Let’s talk gamer types, because not every player is gonna vibe with Indy’s brand of archaeological chaos.
Using the Quantic Foundry gamer motivation model, here’s who should smash and who should pass:
- 🟢 If you’re into Action, there’s plenty of thrills and you can make as much chaos as you can handle.
- 🔴 There’s no real Social aspect to the game, it’s strictly singe-player.
- 🟠 For Mastery, the game isn’t too skill-based, but there is some strategy, not just in the puzzles but also in trying to get from point A to point B without being seen.
- 🟢 There’s a lot for the completionists out there, with lots of stuff find and explore (Achievement).
- 🟢 There’s a ton of Immersion here, as you truly feel like the hero in another Indian Jones movie.
- 🔴 And there’s a little bit of Discovery, but overall I’d say there’s not a lot of Creativity in the game play. You’re not gonna be customizing whips or setting mouse traps in motion to see what they do.
Overall, it’s a game for story-driven, immersion-focused players who want to feel like Indy—not just play as him.
The game launched in 2024 on Xbox and PC, and it’s now available on PlayStation 5 because Bethesda and Xbox can’t be tied down like that.
Final Thoughts
Ok, look. I’m a stealth junkie, and I have no problem with game incorporating stealth. But I have to say there’s something about the way the game leans so heavy on sneaking around, but doesn’t really give you the tools to do it. There’s no “instinct mode”, the map doesn’t show vision cones, or that sort of thing—which makes sense with the character and the context of the story—but that means you’re flying blind and I just didn’t find that very satisfying or compelling. I also think the immersive sim aspect often sapped the momentum right out of the game. Sometimes it just felt like a lot of walking around with some cutscenes slapped in from time to time, and just not the trill ride I expected.
But hey, it’s a great Indy adventure. For fans of the franchise, it’s absolutely worth it. It’s a fun throwback that respects the source material while doing just enough new to feel fresh. Not every punch lands, and a few puzzles will make you wanna flip a table, but it’s a game that doesn’t try to be too much.
It’s not trying to compete with prestige games, or make you forget about all other gaming. There’s no login bonuses, or endless endgame—it’s just trying to make you smile while you outsmart a trap and punch a cultist in the jaw. And honestly? That’s enough. I kinda waffled on this one, but ultimately I give it a thumbs up. 👍
Have you played it? Did my experience match up with yours? Tell me all about it in the comments on YouTube, and tell me what you thought of that tier list at the beginning.
